Task. 31: The Flame of the Ruined Country
is the thirty-first episode of GoGo Sentai Boukenger. Synopsis Eiji tries to understand Sakura's cool, logical nature when the duo head into an area sealed by the Questers for Precious retrieval. Plot Everyone is just shocked because Eiji refused Sakura's order to fill out paper work. He grabs the clip board and tosses it to Shouta. She exits, seeing she can't convince him. Masumi tells him he has guts. Eiji doesn't see what is the big deal. Satoru says she clearly saw it was no use to fight with him. Natsuki says she should would have hit Eiji. Eiji says if you want to say something, you should say it. Shouta hands him the clipboard and Eiji bops it on his head. To relieve the tension, Sakura angrily and hurriedly eats a sundae at a restaurant. Meanwhile the Questers search for a Precious in Mount Kamuro. Rei creates a seal called the Ashu Demon's Infinite Blockade Circle to keep the Boukenger out. Mr. Voice alerts the Boukenger. It is an ancient graveyard. He tells them about the Fire of the Ruined Country, it is a flame created from the fat of cursed people and through black magic, it will never extinguish. It can burn down an entire country. The Boukenger arrive at the area and go down a path together. Eiji tells them to stop. Eiji pushes Masumi and he bounces back from a portal. Eiji explains it is an old Ashu technique. Natsuki throws a rock and it bounces back and hits Masumi in the face. Morio checks it out and says it has a radius of about 2 miles. He doesn't know how to break it. Eiji says he can destroy it from within. He can get in because of his family's ways but he can't take everyone because it takes too much power. He is determined to destroy the barrier himself but Sakura volunteers herself in case there are traps in there. Eiji gets a bunch of rope and concentrates on a plate tied to it. He recites some key words and the plate flies up and into the portal. He grabs onto Sakura and they swing inside the portal. The portal lights up, blinding the others. Then it disappears. The Questers sense trespassers and deduce it is Eiji. Gai tells Rei to continue as he will take care of Eiji. Eiji and Sakura fall in, and the rope disappear. Eiji moans in pain. Sakura asks if something is wrong but he shrugs it off, continuing on a path. Satoru asks Morio if he can track them but unfortunately he can't. The others fret for their friends and wonder what to do. Shouta hopes Eiji won't pull a stunt like he did earlier. Akashi says they will do all they can, holding up the Golden Sword. He turns the dial on the sword. Eiji and Sakura are walking and he feels pain once again. He says 'its nothing, Sakura.' She tells him to use code names. He asks her why she really came. He thinks it is because she was afraid he would fight Gai alone. She admits it. He says he is not obsessed with that anymore. She says with his personality, he might think its faster to defeat the Questers instead of bringing down the barrier. He tells her she should have said that in the first place. He thinks she doesn't trust him. She says that isn't the case. Eiji is sure of it, he says what he hates the most is people holding stuff in. She avoids him and keeps walking forward. He runs in front of her and then feels pain. She lifts up his shirt, revealing slashes all over his back. Gai strolls in, revealing that those wounds are what happen when he crosses the barrier. Sakura is shocked. Eiji says it doesn't hurt. Gai blasts at them and they transform at the same time. They fight him. Silver is about to walk off but collapses. Gai blasts them and they fall down. Outside the portal, Zuban hits the portal repeatedly. It is no use. He hits himself. He falls in Satoru's arms and Satoru tells Zuban to quit. Masumi says he doesn't have the same powers as Eiji. Zuban feels bad and sits down, feeling sorry for himself. Shouta tries to cheer him up. Inside, Sakura and Eiji have gathered near a river. Eiji is still aching in pain. Sakura asks why he didn't inform her. He sits up and says there was no point to it. "I thought you hated holding things in," she reasons. "Don't lump me with you," he says. He then admits it would cause problems if he said so, because he had no choice anyway. She stands up and gets medicine from her jacket. He says he has no idea what she is thinking. She hands him the painkiller, apparently from SGS. He grabs it and takes it as she sits on a huge rock. She says that the people in the Self Defense Force also called her 'cool' or 'cold.' She supposes it may be a habit she developed as a child. She asks if he ever heard of the Nishihori financial group, he says they sell things worldwide. He figures out it is her family. She says she was trained to be the heir since she is the only daughter. She was trained to be unemotional, not say what she felt, and since she has always been that way. She tried separating herself from Nishihori but that aspect she can't seem to shake off. She guesses it is her personality, she reasons that it is like he doesn't like inconveniences. He says to lump her with him. He tells her if she explains this, people will understand. She thinks about it and then laughs, agreeing. He gets up and they set off. Rei finds the location underground. He breaks it open. Eiji and Sakura reach the seal but Gai attacks them. Eiji blocks an attack for Sakura. Eiji holds Gai down as Sakura runs to the seal. Gai blasts at her but misses. He gets her heel and she falls. She then uses a hook from her Scope Shot to break off the seal and lift the barrier. Gai is so angry, he delivers Eiji a deadly blow. Morio gives the all clear to the others and they transform. Eiji clutches his chest and then Gai hits him again. Sakura runs toward him as he bleeds from where he was slashed. She gets closer, he smirks and extends his right hand out, she reaches him but he falls. She clutches to his bloody right hand with her right hand. Gai is proud and gloats about his victory. Sakura tells him to shut up as a tear rolls down her cheek and falls on her hand. She then shouts to him to shut up again. She grabs her Acellular and brushes it by her and she transforms. She continues glowing as she stands up. They fight. She holds his head with her weapon but he flips her and hits her. She rolls down, stands up and he blasts her down the cliff. She gets up again and he blasts at her some more. She jumps high and blasts him down. She flips and lands, but then the Quester Robo Blaze (Erupt) arrives. Rei has collected the Precious. He is about to crush Pink with the robot when Red arrives with the Golden Sword and holds the robot back. Gai recognizes the sword, he says, "can't be.. Lemuria..." Red pushes the robot back. Gai jumps into it.The others arrive and the sword becomes Zuban. Zuban takes Eiji away to safety. Ultimate DaiBouken is formed and fights the robot. The fire is used against it in the air. Ultimate DaiBouken falls down. Pink pushes them forward, uprising them. They fly up to the robot and they blast them again. But Pink keeps pushing UDB forward through the fire, disobeying the other's warnings. Using the finisher at close-range, they destroy the Quester Robo. Ultimate DaiBouken grabs the Precious and the Questers jump out. Eiji wakes up in the sick bay to everyone except for Sakura. Natsuki says they thought he was dead. He sits up. Eiji says he can't die that easily. Shouta says the doctor said it was pretty close. Eiji disbelieves. He asks for Sakura. Masumi says she had some business to do. Natsuki says she said it was good enough for her to know Eiji was okay. Masumi says she wouldn't worry about Eiji. Natsuki pulls out an apple for Eiji and tries peeling it. Souta and Masumi aren't sure she can do it. She does indeed, comically injures herself. Masumi grabs the apple. Satoru sits by Eiji and asks if he doesn't like Sakura. He says he doesn't know. They both smile at each other. Sakura is once again in the restaurant and has finished her sundae. She sighs contentedly and smiles. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : The 30 Sentai Encyclopedia ]] *'Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger': Eiji starts off by saluting, and then the whole group does the pointing pose from the end of the Dekaranger's henshin sequence. After the clips, each Boukenger is dressed up in the S.P.D. uniform of their Dekaranger counterparts (Masumi in Sen-chan's and Eiji in Tetsu's), and once Satoru is done saying, "Don't miss the next one," the team performs the S.P.D. salute, complete with "Roger!" followed by Murphy (the Dekaranger's robotic dog) pops up in the foreground and barks. The five main Dekarangers, DekaBreak, DekaMaster, and DekaSwan are seen in the clips, but DekaBright, DekaGold, and all of the Deka Machines (Dekaranger Robo, DekaBike Robo, DekaBase Robo, DekaWing Robo, & Blast Buggy) are omitted. However, S.W.A.T. Mode, Murphy as the D-Bazooka, and Machines Doberman, Husky, and Bull are seen. **This is Eiji's third time starting a segment. **Song: performed by Psychic Lover **The appearance by K-9 Murphy in this entry is the only time a character from another Sentai appears directly in the 30 Sentai Encyclopedia. ***Although Fairy Bokku is seen in the Gingaman entry, it is merely a doll Natsuki holds in SGS headquarters. ***This can be equated with Secret Lantern Daigoyou of Shinkenger being the only Sentai character outside of Goseiger to appear in Super Sentai Versus Series Theater. Errors *''to be added'' Notes *As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside episode 35, *'Viewership': 7.1% *Gai recognizes the Golden Sword as Lemurian. This is foreshadowing to Task 33. Mecha Reference *Quester Robo Blaze (Erupt): Sun Vulcan Robo (Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan) DVD releases GoGo Sentai Boukenger Volume 8 features episodes 29-32: Task 29: The Golden Sword, Task 30: The Rage of the Golden Majin, Task 31: The Flame of the Ruined Country and Task 32: The Secret of the Adventure School. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/bouken.html See Also References Category:GoGo Sentai Boukenger Category:Sentai episodes Category:Written by Yasuko Kobayashi